I am a very private person," says Marjane Satrapi, author of "Persepolis" and co-director of the new film based on her graphic novels. It's a curious statement coming from someone who's poured her own life into an autobiographical novel, but as she repeatedly pointed out to The Japan Times, it's not a tell-all. And as someone who's given us a glimpse into an Iran rarely seen in the West, Satrapi also adds, "I don't want to be the voice of a generation." She seems suitably Gallic these days, though, chain-smoking and motor-mouthing her way through a very animated interview.
Did you approach the film differently from the books?
Yes — it was a question of making a script based on the code of the cinema, and not that of comics anymore. They're very similar (media), yet very different.